Swedish American Genealogist

Volume 24 | Number 1 Article 8

3-1-2004 A Swedish Alphabet Elisabeth Thorsell

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Recommended Citation Thorsell, Elisabeth (2004) "A Swedish Alphabet," Swedish American Genealogist: Vol. 24 : No. 1 , Article 8. Available at: https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/swensonsag/vol24/iss1/8

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center at Augustana Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Swedish American Genealogist by an authorized editor of Augustana Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 16 SwedishAmerican Genealogist 2004:1 A Swedish Alphabet from the 18th Century

BY ELISABETH THORSELL

The alphabet on the lefthand page The long text is a citation from the sponsors, and not much more. The was written by Jonas Jacob Wallberg, Bible. It is from the Book of Job, format is easily learnt, and that goes born 1762 in bstergotland, and died chapter 14, and it reads like this: for Marriage and Death records also. there in 1810. His father was a sur­ Menniskan afQwinno {odd, lefwer The difficulties are usually met when veyor, Mathias Jonas Wallberg, and en liten tid och i:ir full med I I you try to decipher people's titles, but as was common in those days, the son orolighet; Waxer upp som ett blom­ an old dictionary will be a good help. was educated to follow his father's ster, och faller af, fiyr I I Probates are more of a challenge, footsteps and also become a surveyor. bort som en skugge, och blifwer as farming tools and houseware have An important part of the job was to icke. Och ofwer en sadana I I many names, but we will try them make maps of villages, to show who uplater Tu Tin ogon, och drager later on. owned what fields, which also meant mig for Tig i ri:itten I I There has already been studies in that he had to have a good hand­ ho will finna en r enan ni:ir them, old hand-writing published in SAG, writing, and probably had to start at ther ingen ren i:ir. but the new format makes better a very young age to acquire a good pictures possible. Reading hand­ hand. In King James Bible the text goes writing is also something very basic, We do not know, but perhaps can like this: that you need to practise all the time. assume that this alphabet is one of 1: Man that is born of a woman is Even an experienced researcher has Jonas Jacob's youthful exercises. It of few days, and full of trouble. to sit down and take a close look, is written in German script (tyska 2: He cometh forth like a flower, when a parish gets a new clergyman stilen), which was very common in and is cut down: he fleeth also as a and the script changes. Sweden during the 1700s. shadow, and continueth not. In the first row we have all of the 3: And dost thou open thine eyes A good tip small letters, from a to but there upon such an one, and bringest o, me When you are reading old script, take seems to be too many of them? This into judgment with thee? out a notebook and write down the is because Jonas Jacob has also 4: Who can bring a clean thing out text in your own hand, preferably in written some of the more common of an unclean? not one. print. combinations, like ~ (ff) and the When you come to a word that you There are a few things to note in can not read, try to figure how many several types of s . the text. The letter u has a squiggle letters there are in this word, and on top to show that there is a vowel then leave empty spaces for those there, otherwise it might get lost /1/J. in letters, then go on with what you can all the other undulating letters. Jo­ read. where the last one is a double ss. nas Jacob also writes th, where mo­ Next, put away the notebook for There are also some common com­ dern Swedish writes d (ther = dar). the day. When you take it out again, binations with s and t, like these: It does not show in this text, but it and look at the text, then you say "of was common to write double letters course, that word is Aseda" or what­ like mm as just one letter with a ever it was. The brain keeps working squiggle on top (my computer will on this problem and might come up not do this). So always put some with a solution after having had importance on the squiggles. some rest. They are tt, sk and st. Always when Do not think that all old Swedish you see a letter that looks too large, is difficult to read like this one. remember these combinations. Usually the researcher works with Next comes the capital letters, and records where you can almost guess there is nothing exceptional there, what is in them. In a Birth record except perhaps the S, which does not you expect to find information on the look like an S. baby, his parents, their home, and the

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